With open evening on the horizon this week my aim is to create displays for my classroom.
1// Interactive Progress Displays
Not only do I want the pupils to know how to progress through learning ladders, I want them to be able to see their progress. Now there maybe some debate over whether or not we should share pupils progress with the rest of the class, so I will take a vote with each class on whether they want to be included. I imagine most pupils will enjoy a bit of competition, particularly the boys.
The original idea for Progress Pegs is from https://twitter.com/PeFoulger
Now I first saw this idea of Progress Pegs from Agility – The Teaching Toolkit who shared this from PeFoulger. I liked the simple presentation of this display which allows for several classes.
Whilst I also like this idea of a Learning Ladder to climb I don’t feel it would be possible to clearly see each pupil from the 6 KS3 classes I teach, I will probably keep this kind of display to just the 4 GCSE classes I teach using GCSE grades instead.
2// Learning Ladders
Now previously my learning ladders were much smaller, it was simply 6 sheets with the basic criteria for each level. However my current school requires more detail on what pupils need to be able to do to reach each level. In Humanities I have found this difficult, as sometimes it’s not what they know but how they apply it, describe it, explain it, evaluate it… For example I’d still expect a level 3 to explain something, but the explanation will not be as coherent as a level 4 answer or as in depth as a level 6.
Since my school have decided not to change from levels just yet I am sticking with typical level ladders. This is what I have created so far. Since I teach Humanities trying to cover aspects of both Geography and History Assessment Objectives was troublesome but I managed to break it down into 3 Geography based and 3 History based with an additional 2 in relation to Skills and Enquiry and Organisation and Communication.
I plan to get the pupils to refer to this on a regular basis to set their own targets for improvement.
3// Humanities in the News
My final and favourite display will be my Humanities in the News display. I have handed this over to a number of keen pupils to take the reigns and decide what they determine as Humanities in the News. The only part of this I will be deciding is the lovely cloud scene backing paper. The rest is up to them. They were set a mission to find news stories and articles last week to start the display off and they will be left to up-date it on a regular basis. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they come up. Once it’s up and running I will take a snapshot of it.
Do you have any other ideas to help me on my displays quest?
I look forward to your suggestions
Oct 18, 2014 at 12:00 pm
I really like this idea. I can also see how it could be used to track progress throughout a lesson, allowing pupils to choose their own starting point, then moving along the board during the lesson. It is also quite ‘visual’ so that anybody observing could also see this progress. It would work excellent with Ski-Runs, Solo, or if the pupils are given N/C criteria.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oct 18, 2014 at 12:00 pm
Reblogged this on D&T Teaching and commented:
I really like this idea. I can also see how it could be used to track progress throughout a lesson, allowing pupils to choose their own starting point, then moving along the board during the lesson. It is also quite ‘visual’ so that anybody observing could also see this progress. It would work excellent with Ski-Runs, Solo, or if the pupils are given N/C criteria.
LikeLike